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The German soprano, Dorothee (Blotzky-) Mields, was born to German/Ukrainian parents. As a child she learned violin and piano. She received her first singing lesson from Therese Maxsein in Essen and thereafter acquired experience in various choruses. She later studied at the College of Arts in Bremen (Hochschule für Künste Bremen) with Elke Holzmann. There she discovered her love for the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. She continued her studies in Stuttgart with Harry van der Kamp and Gabriele Schreckenbach. After passing successfully her graduate examinations, she studied with Julia Hamari in Stuttgart.
The music of the 17th and 18th centuries has always fascinated Dorothee Mields and is a major focus of her work today. In addition to numerous concerts in Germany and abroad, including appearances with the Telemann-Kammerorchester Michaelstein and the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor and Ensemble, her intensive collaboration with Ludger Rémy and Thomas Hengelbrock has resulted in favourably reviewed CD recordings, such as Georg Philipp Telemann’s oratorios Die Auferstehung and Der Tod Jesu. Contemporary music also forms an increasingly important part of her repertoire. Among other works, she sang the title role in the world première of J.M. Staud’s opera Berenice (Munich Biennale 2004). Her wide-ranging repertoire comprises works of Monteverdi, Bach and Mozart to compositions by Boulez, Grisey and Beat Furrer.
Dorothee Mields has sung and played in many opera and theatre productions under important directors, such as Euridice in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with the Viennese Festival Weeks and co-operated with conductors such as Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe and Gustav Leonhardt.
Dorothee Mields' special inclination however applies for the Lieder singing. Among her companions on the piano can be found Ludger Rémy and Grigori Pantijelew. With them she has unfolded the different connections of language and music in the Lieder literature, from the 17th century into the modern time. Outside of the Baroque genre, her great love is the late-romantic French art-song. She has successfully performed the moving song-cycle Clairières dans le ciel by composer Lili Boulanger.
Dorothee Mields has become a much sought-after soloist - and interpreter of Baroque music, in particular - and is in demand at many international festivals, including the Ansbacher Bach Week; the Bach Festival of Köthen, the Bach-Fest in Leipzig, the Halle and Göttingen Händel Festivals, Suntory Music Foundation Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Tanglewood Festival, the Music Festival of Bremen, the Vienna Festival Weeks, the Flanders Festival in Bruges; and various other festivals in Feldkirch, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, Schwetzingen, and Vienna.
Dorothee Mields performs regularly with Collegium Vocale Gent, Bach Collegium Japan, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Flanders Recorder Quartet, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Klangforum Vienna, and with conductors Ivor Bolton, Beat Furrer, Martin Haselböck, Wolfgang Helbich, Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt, Kenneth Montgomery, Helmut Müller-Brühl, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Stephen Stubbs, Masaaki Suzuki and Jos van Veldhoven.
Highlights of recent concert seasons included recordings of Joseph Schuster’s opera Demofoonte under the baton of Ludger Rémy; Haydn’s Creation with Thomas Hengelbrock (2001); chamber cantatas of Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel; Bach Cantatas BWV 91, BWV 121 & BWV 133 with Philippe Herreweghe (2001); and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate at the Rheingau Music Festival. Additionally, Dorothee Mields produced her first recording for the Naxos Label - a performance of two Te-Deum compositions by Händel under the direction of Wolfgang Helbich (2001). In January 2003, she toured Europe with Philippe Herreweghe and the Collegium Vocale Gent, performing Monteverdi’s Marienvesper. Further projects are planned, including Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate in Tokyo as well as numerous CD productions. She recently sang the role of Phaedra in Johann Georg Conradi’s Ariadne at the Boston Early Music Festival.
2006-2007 season's highlights included J.S. Bach's St. John Passion (BWV 245) with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Canada, Grisey Quatre Chants pour franchir le seuil with Klangforum Vienna under the baton of Simone Young in Hamburg, Bach’s Cantata Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten with Freiburger Barockorchester, Stravinsky’s Threni with the RIAS-Kammerchor and the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin under the direction of Stefan Asbury, as well as Mahler’s Symphony N° 4 with the Orchestre des Champs Elysées under Philippe Herreweghe's baton.
Engagements 2007-2008 include her debut at the Salzburg Festival with Klangforum Vienna (August 2007/Grisey Quatre Chants/conductor: Emilio Pomárico), a solo recital with Sinfonieorchester Aachen (October 2007/Händel arias) as well as concert tours with Collegium Vocale Gent (November 2007 and May 2008/conductor: Philippe Herreweghe; December 2007/conductor: Masaaki Suzuki) and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging (March 2008/conductor: Jos van Veldhoven).
Dorothee Mields currently teaches at the "Franz Liszt" Academy of Music in Weimar.
Today a steadily growing discography of over 40 recordings and many broadcast productions, some of which have won awards, documents Dorothee Mields' active concert career and wide repertoire. Numerous international radio stations (e.g., BBC, Evangelische Omroep Holland, Klara Belgien and several broadcasting services of the ARD) and CD-labels (e.g., Sony Classical, BIS, BMG, Harmonia Mundi, DHM, MDG, HMF, cpo, Naxos and Koch) are currently broadcasting and recording her work. She has already produced first-edition recordings of heretofore unknown treasures from the Baroque period, including operas, oratorios and cantatas. Her recordings of Baroque oratorios and cantatas, including those of G.P. Telemann, Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, Rolle and Benda, for the label cpo - all performed under the direction of Ludger Rémy - were positively received by the critics, as was her production of Antonio Lotti's Requiem, performed under Thomas Hengelbrock’s baton. |
